Top 10: 2018’s Best Stretch Forwards
The class of 2018 is starting to get heated up with a long and productive spring. Now is a good time to breakdown the class as they prepare for their key summer. Over the next week, we will be doing a series of Top 10’s, a list of the best at each category for the class of 2018. Today, we are breaking down the list of top stretch forward prospects in the state.
Asher Blum – 6’7 | PF | Warsaw (IN) | Spiece Indy Heat Red 2018
Brennan Fitzgerald – 6’5 | PF | Brebeuf Jesuit (IN) | GP Select 2018
Caleb Brown – 6’6 | PF | Broad Ripple (IN) | EG10 2018
Caleb Middlesworth – 6’8 | PF | Oak Hill (IN) | UA G3 Grind 2018
Gavin Bizeau – 6’10 | PF | Plainfield (IN) | Spiece Indy Heat 2018
Jack Hansen – 6’7 | PF | Guerin Catholic (IN) | Team Blaze Select 2018
Jeff Reynolds – 6’6 | PF | Greenwood (IN) | Team Blaze Select 2018
Rilee Epley – 6’4 | SF | Evansville Harrison (IN) | Pocket City 2018
Spencer Ballinger – 6’6 | PF | Oak Hill (IN) | GP Select 2018
Zach Munson – 6’5 | PF | Guerin Catholic (IN) | Team Blaze Select 2018
Breakdown: More and more, the stretch four has become a more utilized player. They aren’t your typical post player, but they aren’t really a wing either. With this class of 2018, so many players have gone that route. The difference between a lot of them is that you are either an inside-out or an outside-in. The former is the coveted but all are needed in today’s game.
As far as guys that fit the inside-out mold, look for people like Caleb Middlesworth, Brennan Fitzgerald, Caleb Brown, and Gavin Bizeau. Middlesworth is the very prototypical inside-out guy as much of his game is with his back to the basket and then occasionally steps outside to shoot. Brown and Fitzgerald are more of mid-range guys that face-up and can play with their backs to the basket second. Gavin Bizeau has shown he can be both. During high school you saw him be really effective on the interior. During AAU he’s more on the arc.
For the flipside and the outside-in guys, you have people like Zach Munson, Jack Hansen, and Jeff Reynolds. Munson is a really good shooter and that brings in most of his offense so he tends to want to play around the arc. Hansen the same way. Reynolds isn’t a great three-point shooter but really skilled in the mid-range. Doesn’t play inside much but has the size and the length to be impactful when he decides to.
Of this group, it is all a who do you want and need. These players have become more valuable because colleges can custom fit the four-men to suit their teams makeup.